The BCom Honours in Marketing Management students were recently challenged to think outside the box when they visited ABSA’s new strategic innovation zone, Equinox, to complete several marketing-related acitivities.

The venue was purposely built to be a creative space, designed to be experienced with all the senses. The entrance has a London underground look and feel (including typical station noises), followed by a classic library stocked with books about people that changed the world. A number of  surpise elements also await visitors.

The evening began in the London underground, where students were challenged to create a twitter feed for a randomly allocated product while reflecting the ‘undergound’ theme.

The entrance of Equinox and the twitter feed of team ‘Westminster’ tweeting about their product (Aquafresh), with the hashtag #Making you smile from point A to point B

Part of the experience included creating a marketing graffiti wall reflecting the experiences and learnings of the evening. It is evident that what started off as a blank wall quickly filled up with great experiences.

Prof Wiese (lecturer) at the graffiti wall

Students utilised the various sections of the work zone for activities ranging from a logo and brand name quiz to identifying the product placements from the Transformers movie. Teams also participated in a game of ‘marketing Scrabble’ to illustrate the similarity between Scrabble and content marketing.

Student teams completing the various activities in the different zones

Students also spent time in the ‘fuel zone’, where they had to use the refreshments served – burgers and fries – as inspiration to develop and brand a new burger for a well-established food outlet.

Students in the fuel zone

The Equinox team was amazing in providing the venue for the evening, as well as the technical backup to make the event a huge success. Hats off to ABSA Corporate and Investment Bank for opening up the minds of prospective marketers!